Books in Japan

Last month I got to go to the Kinokuniya in Beaverton, OR.  It is a very small store, but it is also the only Kinokuniya branch within 500 miles of where I live, so I take what I can get.  Anyway, I was on the prowl for light novels, but this branch didn't have that great of a selection.  All they really had were the newest volumes of established series, and OCD prevents me from purchasing volume 4 without having first purchased volumes 1 through 3.  What I stumbled across instead was a translation of a fantasy book originally written in English: Green Rider by Kristen Britain.  I read Green Rider many years ago when it first came out, in 1998, and it has been a favorite fantasy book of mine.  The cover art for the Japanese edition was so different that it took me a few seconds to realized just what I was looking at.

Both parts make one continuous picture.

Moreover, instead of coming in one paperback volume, the Japanese publisher split it into two volumes.  That is one thing that is nice about the American publishing industry: we buy the entire book in one go.  Each part was about the cost of what the entire paperback book costs here in the states, so I can't help but think that the Japanese publisher is gouging fans....

Unfortunately there are no illustrations inside the novel, which is a bit of a bummer because I really like the art style of the cover illustrator.  Karrigan never looked so cute!